The traffic police and the regional transport authorities held a meeting with private ambulance operators on Tuesday after complaints regarding them fleecing the Covid-19 patients and the kin of the deceased poured in from various quarters.
Regional Transport Authority (RTA) secretary Sandeep Singh and assistant commissioner of police (ACP, traffic) Gurdev Singh warned the ambulance operators against overcharging for carrying patients and bodies of the deceased.
The ACP said that with the consent of ambulance operators, they had fixed the maximum fare for 25 km at ₹2,500. After 25km, the operator can charge ₹12 per km. Similarly, for ventilator-fitted ambulances, the maximum charges for 25km have been fixed at ₹5,000. After 25km, the operators can charge ₹25 per km.
The ACP and the RTA secretary said that the people can file complaints against the ambulance operators for over-charging. The police will take stern action against them.
On Monday, two families of Covid-19 victims were forced to take bodies of their kin to the cremation ground in an auto-rickshaw and cycle rehri after a private ambulance operator demanded ₹3,500 to 4,000 from them for the same.